Power scene to improve in five years: Akhilesh

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday assured the members in the Vidhan Sabha that the power situation in the state would improve within five years.

Replying to a question of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Hukum Singh, he said efforts were being made in that direction. Officers had been taken to task for non-performance and action initiated against many of them, he said.

Yadav said the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) was facing a serious financial crisis, which was having an adverse impact on the power generation and distribution in the state.

He said the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited had been buying power at higher rates and selling it to consumers at lower rates. As a result, its liabilities for buying power had reached Rs 29000 crore during the BSP regime, he said adding these liabilities were expected to have gone up to Rs 31,000 crore now.

Yadav said the union government had sanctioned a financial restructuring plan on October 8, 2012 to take the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited out of the financial crisis.

About the poor quality of transformers, he said the issue had been brought to his notice following the formation of the Samajwadi Party government.He said his government would ensure that only quality transformers were installed in the state.

About allegations of corruption in purchasing transformers, Yadav said there were no such complaints during his government’s tenure so far.